Wire line cementing tool



July '16, 1963 c. B. CORLEY, JR., ETAL 3,097,693

WIRE LINE CEMENTING TOOL Filed Dec. 5. 1960 FIG. 2.

FIG. 3.

' FIG.|.

ATTORNEY.

CHARLES B. CORLEY,JR., GARLAND C. TERREL, BY SAMUEL E. LOY,

United States Patent 3,097,698 WIRE LINE CEMENTIN G TOOL Charles B.Corley, Jr., and Garland C. Terrel, Houston, and Samuel E. Loy III,Midland, Tex., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Jersey ProductionResearch Company, Tulsa, Okla., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 5,1960, Ser. No. 73,801 1 Claim. (Cl. 166-162) This invention relatesgenerally to well w'orkover operations, and more particularly to wireline apparatus for squeezing a liquid through perforations in a pipestning cemented in a borehole in the earth.

In connection with well completion operations, it customary to cementeither a casing string or one or more production pipe strings (flowtubings) to the sides of a borehole that penetrates one or moreproductive earth formations. The purpose of the cementing operation isto prevent fluid migration between production zones when two or morezones are to be produced through the same borehole or between theuppermost production zone and fresh water sands penetrated by theborehole. For any of a number of reasons there may be an imperfect bondbetween the cement and the sides of the borehole. For example, the mudor filter cake may have been imperfectly removed before the cementingoperation so that earth formation fluids migrating to the well boreduring production could at least partially wash away the filter cake.When it is suspected that voids exist between the cement and the slidesof the borehole, it is customary to place a bridging plug in the pipestring, to perforate the pipe string and the surrounding cement abovethe bridging plug, and to squeeze a quantity of a fluid cement-itiousmixture, such as a cement slurry or a fluid plastic, through the newperforations. The fluid cementitious mixture remaining in the bore ofthe pipe string then may be circulated out by means of a tubing stninglowered within the pipe string. A similar operation may be conducted toseal off perforations to a formation that has been depleted preparatoryto reperforating for the purpose of producing another formation.

On other occasions it may be desirable to squeeze other types of liquidsthrough perforations in a pipe string. Examples of such liquids areacids, plastic sandconsolidating liquids, and surface-active agents.

There are circumstances when it is undesirable to circulate out liquidsremaining in a pipe string after a workover or maintenance operation. Itthen becomes desirable to lower the liquid into the well on a wire linetool, to squeeze the liquid through perforations in the pipe string, andto remove the excess liquid from the pipe string along with the wireline tool.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided ahousing for lowering a quantity of fluid into a well, comprising anupper member and a lower member telescopingly connected together so asto be adapted for Limited telescoping movement between a most telescopedposition and a least telescoped position. Ports in the members areadapted to come into alignment when the members are in one of thepositions thereof to permit passage of fluid therethrough. Sealing meansare provided between the members to isolate the ports when the membersare in the other position thereof. Annular packer means above and belowthe ports are provided to seal a portion of the annulus between thehousing members and the walls of the well pipe so that the perforationsin the well pipe can be isolated from the well bore. The packers areadapted to be expanded into sealing engagement with the pipe stringwalls when the apparatus is at the level of the perforations. 'Ilheupper portion of the housing is in fluid communication 3,097,698Patented July 16, 1963 from the well along with the fluid that remainstherein.

Objects and features of the invention not evident from the abovediscussion will become apparent upon consideration of the followingdescription thereof when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a well installation showing anembodiment of the invention being lowered to the depth of well pipeperforations through which cement is to be squeezed; and

FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views of an embodiment of theinvention illustrating the two operative positions thereof.

In FIG. 1 there is shown a well installation including a pipe string 3which may be either a casing string or a production pipe string cementedto the walls of bore hole 1 in accordance with so-called tubinglesscompletion techniques. The borehole 1 penetrates an earth format-ion 17.Perforations 19 are shown as penetrating the pipe string 3, the cementsheath 2, and as extending into the earth formation 17. It will beassumed that for some reason it is desirable to squeeze a fluid, such asa cement slurry, into the perforations.

An apparatus 15, constructed in accordance with the teachings of theinvention, is shown as being lowered into the well by lowering apparatusincluding a running tool 13, cable type jars 11, a stem 9, a wire linesocket 7, and a wire line 5. The lowering apparatus may be of the typeillustrated on page 4354 of the'Composite Catalog of Oil Field Equipmentand Services, 24th Revision (1960). For purposes which will becomeapparent below, a collar stop 31 is shown as having been set in a collarrecess 32 in the pipe string. The collar stop is illustrated in FIG. 1as being integral with the apparatus 15. However, the collar stop may beseparate from the apparatus 15. The illustrated construction ispreferred inasmuch as only one wire line trip is needed to perform thesqueezing operation instead of the two wire line trips required if thecollar stop was separate from the apparatus 15. The collar stop may beof the type illustrated at page 3969 of the Composite Catalog of OilField Equipment and Services, 23rd Revision (1958).

The apparatus 15 is illustrated in greater detail in FIGS. 2 and 3. Theapparatus comprises an upper housing member 46 and a lower housingmember 50 connected together so as to be adapted for limited telescopingmovement between the least telescoped position shown in FIG. 2 and themost telescoped position shown in FIG. 3. In the least telescopedposition the lower housing member 50 is adapted to hang from an annular,inwardly extending flange 49 on upper housing member 46 by means of theannular flange 48 at the upper end of lower housing member 50. A shearpin 47 extends into flange 48 from upper housing member 46 to hold thehousing members in their least telescoped position while the apparatusis being run into the well.

A cap member 37 having a fishing neck 33 is connected to the upper endof upper housing member 46 by means of a packer member 43 which isflangedly connected to the upper housing member 46 at its lower end. Atthe upper extremity of upper housing member 46 there is provided anumber of downwardly facing annular serrations 39. A shear pin 41extends through the cap member 37 and engages the serrations to hold thecap member and the upper housing member 46 in the relative positionshown in FIG. 2. A port 35 provides fluid communication between theinterior of the cap member and the upper portion of the borehole abovethe apparatus 15. The prongs of the running tool 13 are shown asengaging the fishing neck 33.

The collar stop 31 is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 as being connected tothe apparatus 15 through a coupling apparatus comprising a collar stopextension 67 and a coupling member 65 adapted to extend into theinterior of the lower end of lower housing member 50. The couplingmember 65 is provided with downwardly facing serrations 61 and isflangedly connected to the lower end of an annular packer member 63. Theannular packer member 63 may be formed of rubber or rubber-likematerial, and is flangedly connected at its upper end to the lower endof lower housing member 50. A shear pin 59 extends through the lowerhousing member 50 to engage the serrations 61 and to hold the couplingmember 65 against downward movement.

It is manifest that shear pins 41 and 59 are designed so as not to shearunder the force imposed thereon by packer members 43 and 63 acting alonein the packing position thereof. Y

The apparatus 15 is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 as having been run intothe well so that packer members 43 and 63 are respectively above andbelow the perforations 19 so as to straddle the perforated zone. Withthe collar stop set in a collar recess 32, downward jarring with jars 11initially will force lower housing member 50 downwardly relative tocoupling member 65 to expand annular packer member 63 into engagementwith the inner wall of the pipe string 3, and will force cap member 37downwardly relative to upper housing member 46 so as to expand packermember 43 into engagement with the inner wall of the pipe string 3. Thiswill isolate the portion of the annulus between the packer members 43and 63 and around the upper and lower housing members from fluidcommunication with the well bore. Further downward jarring will shearthe shear pin 47 and will force the upper housing member 46 downwardlyto its most telescoped position relative to lower housing member 50, asis shown in FIG. 3. This will bring the ports 51 and 55 into alignment.Hydraulic pressure exerted through port 35 Will force the fluid cement45 out through the ports 51 and 55 into the annulus between the packermembers 43 and 63 and around the housing members 46 and 50 into theperforations 19. After the squeezing operation has been performed,upward jarring with jars 11 will supplement the force of packer members43 and 63 sufficiently to shear the shear pins 41 and 59 to permit thepacker members to resume the position shown in FIG. 2.

From the above discussion it will become apparent that the invention isadvantageous in that there is eliminated the necessity for providing atubing to circulate cement out of a pipe string after asqueeze-cementing operation. Furthermore, practically all of the cementremaining in the pipe string after the squeezing operation is retrievedfrom the pipe string. Little if any cement will be left adhering to thewalls of the pipe string. The apparatus is simple and virtuallyfool-proof, and may be used repeatedly for successive operations.

The invention is not necessarily to be restricted to the specificstructural details or arrangement of parts herein set forth, as variousmodifications may be effected without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention.

The invention having been completely described, what is claimed is:

For use in a well comprising at least one pipe string disposed in aborehole, cemented to the sides of the borehole and perforated to openfluid communication to a productive earth formation, apparatus forsqueeze-cementing through the perforations comprising:

an elongated container for cementitious fluid including an elongatedupper member and a lower member in telescoping relationship;

a first port in said upper member near the lower end thereof and asecond port in said lower member, said first and second ports beingadapted to be brought into alignment when said telescoping members aresubstantially in their most telescoped position;

stop means on said telescoping members defining the limits of thetelescoping relationship thereof;

anchoring means adapted to be set at a predetermined 'level in the pipestring to prevent further downward movement thereof;

annular packer means connecting said anchor means and said lowertelescoping member so as to permit limited relative movementtherebetween, said annular packer means being adapted to be laterallyexpanded into sealing engagement with the inner wall of the pipe stringby setting down of said lower member on said stop means to hold fluidbetween said container and the inner wall of the pipe string, saidannular packer means being of normal lateral diameter less than thediameter of the pipe string to permit fluid passage therearound;

said anchoring means terminating at its upper end in a downwardly facingserrated section;

shear pin means connected to said lower telescoping member and engagingsaid serrations constructed and arranged to hold said anchoring meansagainst downward movement relative to said lower telescoping memberunder pressure exerted by said annular packer means;

a cap member extending over the upper end of said upper telescopingmember, having a passageway therein for providing fluid communicationbetween the upper portion of the pipe string and the interior of thecontainer whereby hydraulic pressure may be exerted on fluid in thecontainer to force the fluid through said first and second ports, up theannulus between the container and the pipe string, and into theperforations through the pipe string;

an annular upper packer member connecting said cap member to said uppertelescoping member, constructed and arranged to expand against the wallsof said pipe responsive to downward force exerted on said cap member;

said upper telescoping member terminating at its upper end in adownwardly facing serrated section;

second shear pin means connected to said cap member and engaging saidserrations in said upper telescoping member, constructed and arranged tohold said upper telescoping member against downward movement relative tosaid cap member under pressure exerted by said annular packer meansacting alone;

said cap member including a fishing neck adapted to be connected to awire line retrieving tool.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,676,785 Lewis July 10', 1928 1,802,525 Newlin Apr. 28, 1931 1,858,501Hinderliter May 17, 1932 2,207,478 Cameron July 9, 1940 2,526,021 FultzOct. 17, 1950 2,740,478 Greene Apr. 3, 1956 2,922,477 Wall Jan. 26, 19602,935,133 Eckel May 3, 1960 2,969,839 Greene Jan. 31, 1961

